Be The Buffalo

Life brings us many storms. How will you react?

I will be the first to tell you that life will bring it's fair share of storms your way. Time and again I have been hit hard with things that were so unexpected, and so hard to deal with, that I felt like giving up. I wanted to run, I wanted to hide, I wanted to do anything I could to get away from the things or situations that we causing me discomfort

We've all heard about fight or flight, the impulse that hits hard when we are under attack. This is built into us as a means of protecting ourselves from harm. However, I think sometimes we can end up doing ourselves more harm than good if we are always running from the storms of life.

“Time and again I have been hit hard with things that were so unexpected, so hard to deal with, that I felt like giving up.”

I recently received some interesting advice that I wanted to share with all of you. The advice was to be the buffalo. I know you're thinking "that makes absolutely no sense..." Well let me explain.

When a storm hits, a herd of cows will do what most animals do, and try to run from and avoid the storm. The problem is that often times the herd, rather than escaping the storm, is running with the storm. Prolonging the discomfort of the storm, all the while exhausting the herd and creating more situations for hurt and harm.

A herd of buffalo, however, handle that same storm in an entirely different manner. When a storm hits, they run straight into it and run right through the storm. Yes it's extreme, and scary and might hurt for a bit... but, they face it head on, and in turn work through it quickly.

In our lives, we are so predisposed to hate discomfort. We are creatures of comfort. But facing the hard things from the start can save us from a lot more hurt. Storms don't have to be huge hardships either, they can be hard truths.

I am overweight, if I want that to change, I need to take accountability for my actions. What I eats matters, if I exercise matters, if I sleep matters. I can't hide behind my great personality as an excuse not to take care of this one AMAZING body that I have been given. And if I do, I will be running with that storm until it kills me.

Sometimes we may stay in a relationship because it is comfortable and we don't want to face the hard truth that this person is not right for us. So we stay in it and bring ourselves so much more hurt, hardship and loneliness along the way.

Sometimes we create something within our business that we love, but that is not serving us and is detracting from our true brand quality. But we built it and already spent all of that time and money so we can't give up on it. In turn, we lower our quality, or blow through budgets, or exhaust ourselves and burn ourselves out trying to just make it work.

Facing those storms is the hardest because we so desperately want for them to work! Facing the hard truth that this is not right, or not the right time, is too big and scary and hard. So we run from that truth, trying to escape it's storm and the hardship it may bring. All the while prolonging the storm that we suffer through.

This week, I challenge you to be the buffalo. Take inventory of the storms in your life. What hardships, discomforts and hard truths are you running from? Are you ready to face them head on and suffer the discomfort in order to move through it?

The only way we reach our goals is through self-work. Overcoming our tendencies in order to grow and be better.

If you feel ready to reach the next level, put in the work. Take a personal inventory, face the hard things and work toward the goals you have put in place for yourself. The only person on this planet that we can't lie to is ourselves. True authenticity comes from within, so get to work! Be the buffalo.